The Russian Revolution

The 1905 Russian Revolution was a wave of mass political and social unrest that spread through vast areas of the Russian Empire. Some of it was directed against the government, while some was undirected. It included terrorism, worker strikes, peasant unrest, and military mutinies. It led to the establishment of limited constitutional monarchy, the State Duma of the Russian Empire, the multi-party system, and the Russian Constitution of 1906.

The Russian Revolution is the collective term for a series of revolutions in Russia in 1917, which destroyed the Tsarist autocracy and led to the creation of the Soviet Union. The Tsar was deposed and replaced by a provisional government in the first revolution of February 1917 (March in the Gregorian calendar; the older Julian calendar was in use in Russia at the time). In the second revolution, during October, the Provisional Government was removed and replaced with a Bolshevik (Communist) government.

The February Revolution (March 1917) was a revolution focused around Petrograd (now St. Petersburg). In the chaos, members of the Imperial parliament or Duma assumed control of the country, forming the Russian Provisional Government. The army leadership felt they did not have the means to suppress the revolution and Tsar Nicholas II of Russia, the last Tsar of Russia, abdicated.

The Soviets (workers' councils), which were led by more radical socialist factions, initially permitted the Provisional Government to rule, but insisted on a prerogative to influence the government and control various militias. The February Revolution took place in the context of heavy military setbacks during the First World War, which left much of the army in a state of mutiny.

49 Comments / User Reviews

Russia could have definitely been the greatest country in the world were it not for the bolshevik revolution in february 1917. The Csars were capitalists, and eliminating them is by far the greatest injustice in human history. It has subsequently caused the cold war and so much hatred and tension between Russia and the west.

Incremental Socialism is where you tamp down opportunity, make enough people poor so they have the majority of the vote and dribble enough to them so they will vote for you. Then screw them until next election. That has been the usa for decades. It seems we got tired of that.

Propaganda never ceases. Why? Because you not only believe it, you take up the cause and defend it.

Socialist propaganda tells you that everything wrong is caused by greedy capitalism. It is clear that few know the definition of Capitalism. It has been a LONG time since the usa was Capitalism.

Never forget that before the usa was the usa and just a colony, it started out with that same old dusty utopian mindset of Socialism. They nearly starved to death. Much like the Soviets every so often.

Which is worse? Greedy bureaucrats who must eliminate competition (take over services and other businesses which people could and would do without govt) or people wouldn't need them; or people who desire opportunity and doing things in their own self interest?

Far too many confuse Corporatism with Capitalism. Mussolini who coined the term Fascism said Corporatism was a better description. Capitalists are not the greedy elites who hide behind the corporate banner, to rape, pillage, and pollute.

If I recall, Marx, being the corrupt weasel minded that he was, who has fooled so many into buying into his scheme, stated you have to lie to the people; if you told them the truth, they will never go for it.

Low and behold, we have fake news and non stop propaganda throughout all the major news organizations who are owned or controlled by those who will benefit from Socialism.

If you think Socialism is great, go visit the VA hospitals. Go wait in line for a life saving surgery in Canada or the UK, etc. Who invented all that life saving equipment? Communists? Socialists? The benevolent Capitalists donate tonnes of used medical equipment to needy countries. Meaning the usa's old stuff is a god-send to many countries under the thumb of Socialism and worse.

I would say that the most efficient and likely the beneficial for the people type of government would be a Benevolent Dictatorship. The ever increasing risk would be the content people falling for propaganda by some psychopath. So the idea of checks and balances is the next best thing.

Why is it so important to force Socialism upon those of us who know better and don't want it? Force it upon those who went through a lot to escape from it? Why not just move to a Socialist country and live your happy life?

It appears that the Socialists are miserable types and want more company.

If I recall the grand Marxist scheme is that the whole world must be converted for it to work. Why do people buy that nonsense. Rational and reasonable people experiment on a small scale to see if something works before building bigger.

I for one, don't need govt, any govt, of any kind. Socialism and Communism are means of controlling me. I don't need you to be controlling me, piss off. Same for Corporatism or Fascism. However, it would only be natural for me to want to trade with a neighbor, a pig for some ethanol for the stove I ripped out of an old sailboat after the Commies and the Corporatists ruined the world, or whatever the case may be. Heaven forbid you allow me to trade anything without you skimming your TAX off of it so you can live off of that and dribble a bit to enough others to vote you in.

So bribing officials is bad (which happens as much or more with Socialism) but bribing voters is good if it is a Socialist doing it?

Tax the rich vs. an opportunity rich environment. Which makes a prosperous country? Which makes for the angry who want more free stuff vs. people with dignity earning their own way? Which makes for those who starve vs. those who invent better medical diagnostic devices and other niceties?

What happens to Socialism when the money runs out and the rich are no longer rich because you have taxed and taken them down to the level of the rest or they escaped your travel ban? As some wise people have said, Socialism works fine until the money runs out, and it always runs out.

Do your homework instead of listening to your Socialist teachers, Socialist professors, and Socialist media. You are the subject of a large scale brainwashing, paid for by the bankster elite who own or control via $$ enough of the above to have done enough propagandizing for decades. They have correctly determined that most of you are lazy minded and will not check the facts or seek the truth. They cover the skies with chemtrails, toxify your water with fluoride, screw up your body with GMO, encourage you to take their pharmaceutical toxic meds, or self medicate with drugs ...all so you are more susceptible to what they want you to believe.

The choice is yours. Get clean and get smart or be a useful idiot. Another term for you by those you revere in the Collectivist(socialism, communism, progressivism) movement.

Would you rather be a valued customer or be told to take a number and wait in the long lines like the rest of the ants with no competing service provider? That is the difference between true Capitalism and true Socialism-Communism.

"You must understand. The leading Bolsheviks who took over
Russia were not Russians. They hated Russians. They hated
Christians. Driven by ethnic hatred they tortured and slaughtered
millions of Russians without a shred of human remorse.
The October Revolution was not what you call in America the
'Russian Revolution.'
It was an invasion and conquest over the Russian people.
More of my countrymen suffered horrific crimes at their
bloodstained hands than any people or nation ever suffered in the
entirety of human history.
It cannot be overstated. Bolshevism committed the greatest
human slaughter of all time.
The fact that most of the world is ignorant and uncaring about
this enormous crime is proof that the global media is in the hands
of the perpetrators." -- Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn

Socialism Is the biggest and best thought of this new modern human society.But after saying that i must also agree with the fact that its experiments all over world are wrong ,communism biggest strenght is equality freedom and justice ,which are lacking in all communist world because they are following people or party ,they forget its the idea that changed the world .Its the idea that will bring the revolution ,people will be defeated but idea can travel for me and you ,I belive that every revolution require a leader because we follow leader not the idea ,thats the real problem with communism
Read the writings of swami vivekand and che

After reading down comments I just want to clear up a few things about communism itself. According to Marx and Engels, in an ideal communist state there is NO STATE. there is no strong centralized government, because there is no real "government". It calls for each individuals interests to be those of the society and the people living in it. It calls for a group of people that works for the improvement not of themselves as individuals but as the society as a whole, ensuring that there is no one left behind or unable to sustain themselves, and ensuring that everyone has the same good quality and standard of living that everyone else has. Because no one deserves it more than anyone else. It is a society based on work ethic,autarky (self-sufficiency) sharing and selflessness. This is where communism fails. From what we've seen in history so far. It is very difficult for any group of people to be completely selfless towards one another. Maybe this is human nature or because we haven't been born in a communist society, the need to improve our individual selves overrides our selflessness. It is also very difficult for a person to give up power once he or she has acquired it. This, as well as the fact that for a communist society to be self sufficient, the country would have to have all the resources it needs to function, and unless a country is very very lucky, this isn't the case. I hope this clears things up a little bit. I think this website is supposed to be to educate people and it is very hard to do so when people are insulting each other with "downs syndrome", etc. respect each others opinions and have an intelligent debate. Communists aren't people who are stupid or with downs syndrome. communists are people who believe what Marx and Engels published. Communists are not nazis (because Nazism itself fought communism heavily. Many communists were sent to concentration camps) Communists are not Stalinists or Fascists, because that would demand the presence of a state and one leader for that state, and as I stated above, that is not ideal communism. Communism is not a religion, it is not a "higher power". Communism is in essence an ideal world where everyone gets what they need. However, this hasn't proved to work. Maybe I am a naive idealist, but I think that we can respect each other a little bit more on this website, given it is supposed to be informative. Everyone has diverging political opinions for their own reason, it is what they as a person believe is ethically right. Don't bash it. Debate with people, educate them and be willing to be educated by them. If the world is going to suck as much as it does, might as well learn something from everyone in it. DFTBA

Great doc. I really enjoyed the use of primary source material, the reflections of the sailors. They seem to endorse the view that the Russian revolution was not originally about communism but simply decentralized government and that this revolution was hijacked by the Bolsheviks during the later stages of the upheaval.

Another great point it makes is how the brutality of the Civil War, usually laid entirely at Lenin's feet, was at least in part caused by the meddling of outside powers like Britain and the US who essentially added fuel to the fire by pumping funds and supplies into the counter revolutionary forces. Ironically, the Allies were doing the same thing Hitler would do later during the Spanish Revolution though without the same success.

Please read the orginal works of marx and Engels. You will soon realise that Communism in its pure form entails a stateless society where everyone's interest is their own interest. There is no state for people to be enslaved by. The reason this happened during the USSR period is because the transitional stage of socialism was administered poorly, therefore never allowing for an opportunity for pure Communism as marx envisaged it to happen.

When dozens of millions of people die because of an "administrative error", I would say that it's probably time to start questioning the precepts of your religion called "Marxism".

Robert
- 01/11/2013 at 21:07

No. Try again.

Bonbon LeBlanc
- 09/30/2013 at 05:00

I wonder if you are taunting communism and Marxism. Can I say capitalism is also a religion? Communism calls for the eradication of greed but certain Russian individuals are simply consumed by greed. Capitalism is certainly the way to go because it works and no one dies because of capitalism. There were no child laborers, there were no death due to stress or horrible work environment. We should also realize that because nobody is suffering from the diseases that we now do NOT have to waste billions to help them. Not to mention that nobody is suffering from the rich getting richer and poor getting poorer situation. Sir, your argument is invalid.

sj
- 12/26/2013 at 04:02

people die because of capitalism everyday. capitalism exploits developing countries, it just isn't transparent in developed nations…

Janie_Genius
- 02/13/2014 at 08:27

It is not possible for their to be a "Utopian" society as Marx and Engles planned. Their prophecy was that it would go from slavery to nobles exploiting peasants to employers exploiting peasants to a socialist society and then on to a communist Utopia! In today's world unfortunately there is no such thing as perfection. And as for China being a communist country... bull. People's republic of China my ass, they are run by a group of leaders who are above everybody else, they live by the motto, "Everyone is equal, but some are more equal than others." The only way to achieve a peaceful and prosperous society is to have a healthy balance of both right and left wing ideology.

Steve Messi
- 09/18/2011 at 01:12

Communism is as bad as Hitlerism; they both promote the absolute obedience of the individual to the State. They are both forms of absolutism! So, those who claim that Communism brought some positive change to Russia must reread their history books. The fact of the matter is that communism was far more murderous than fascism. Lenine basically starved a wide portion of his own population into subjugation, and Stalin went even further! As a matter of fact, Stalin by himself killed far more people than Hitler! Let's not forget the other characters like Pol Pot, Mao Tse Tsung, Issen Habre and many other Communist murderers who terrorized their population for decades. The Russian revolution was not a mere accident of history in my opinion. At the juncture of the 21st century, the US was vying to become a dominant State and England was also trying to remain the most powerful empire on earth. Russia was a fast rising Nation, filled with Natural resources that enticed the envy of European and American interests. The fact of the matter is that the Communist revolution was facilitated by Western interests. Trosky has spent some time in the west and Lenin was in exile for a while. They returned to their Nation to lead a " revolution"; but did they return in Russia empty handed or were they helped by Wall Street and London financiers? This is one theory that has never been taken seriously, but a lot of evidence clearly pinpoint to the fact that both communist leaders were actually helped by the " pseudo-democratic" West. In the same way Saddam Hussein, the Shah of Iran, and today's " Libyans rebels" are being supported by their western clients who have been salivating for that Nation oil resources.

You should probably read more. There's far more to Marxism and Communism than the Soviet Union and in fact a lot of Marxist thinkers disagreed with the USSR's adaptation of communism. Oh an if 'communism' doesn't work then why is China poised to be the next global superpower? If communists have down syndrome you must have no brain at all :P

Thunderb0lt
- 08/24/2011 at 18:25

Because China has embraced capitalism, numbskull.

vvindred
- 04/05/2012 at 08:21

that's capitalism ???

zen
- 07/24/2013 at 23:55

Correct. Commies start by using capitalism, then they steal everything.

vvindred
- 04/05/2012 at 08:26

wow what a childish answer, i guess 50 yrs of propaganda made u see things this way , oh and i'm not defending communism , but things are not black or white

Shah Gee
- 06/10/2011 at 12:38

This website Should be Clean from Propaganda Docs. we watch those everyday on Netgeo

US propoganda??? First of all the doc is British and therefore what is there to gain from peddling misinformation in this day and age? These facts can be corroborated, so this twat must face the truth and realise that this was a shameful period of Russian history from which the great Russian nation is still paying a price. However, the Bear will catch up !

I wouldn't say Communism was a complete failure. Russia was a serfdom, bound to an absolutist king. The vast majority of people were tied to the land they worked on, ala Medieval Western Europe. There was abject poverty, high illiteracy, frequent famines and institutionalized aristocratic inequality.

Then, Russia transformed into an industrial superpower. Yes, the Communists did some terrible things and governed with heavy repression, but under their rule, the country did change in many ways for the better. Women began to work for the first time. Children went to school for free. There was public healthcare. Jobs for all. Urbanization and a decline in absolute poverty.

In a sense, it was failure because it collapsed. But it wasn't ALL bad. There were certainly some triumphic aspects of the Soviet Union. But of course, this being a Western doc, it has to be ant-Communist.

Thanks for having the guts to say it. As westerners we are taght that Communism was atrocious, but like most every thing in life, there are good and bad aspects to it. Socialised medicine for one, has been adopted by every civilised country in the world,(except America, of course). We saw also in 2007 what capitalism can do when it gets firing on too many cilinders. The tax payer had to bail it out, or it would have DIED. Gone. What then? So keep an open mind when you hear about other systems and the fate of those systems. Things are never so simple. It's O.K. to have doubts when weighing the ultimate value of such things!

vvindred
- 04/05/2012 at 08:19

i totally agree

zen
- 07/24/2013 at 23:53

It collapsed the lives of more people than any movement in history: 150 million KILLED. No more excuses.

0zyxcba1
- 05/05/2011 at 16:59

We stand here and write
Into the Declaration of the Rights of Man
The holy right of property.

And, now, we see where that leads:

Every man is equally free
To fight, fraternally,
And with equal arms, of course.

Every man his own millionaire:

Man against man,
Group against group,
In happy, mutual, robbery!

And ahead of us, the great springtime of mankind:

The budding of trade and the blossoming of Industry,
In one enormous financial upsurge,
And we stand here more oppressed than when we begun.

Zionists were behind this "operation" against the Tsar-regime. They failed in 1905, started WW1 via Wallstreet banksters (Federel Reserve) and succeeded in taking over Tsariat Russia in 1917 :D. What happened later in Russia, is a history. I mean Tsar was a mother teresa when compared with these [na((zi)on)communist] bastards like Lenin, Trotsky and the worst of all: Stalin!

Stalin was not a Jew, although he was by far the worst. Don't let anti-Zionist sentiments allow you to revise history. People have enough reasons to hate each other.

mondo jackson
- 07/11/2011 at 04:01

Yes but he married 3 jewesses, which if you know the deal, it can be worse. Especially in those days.

KK Jackson
- 10/17/2011 at 02:17

Yes, Stalin wasn't a jew. but his wives were. Also all of his captains and commissars were also jewish. 85% of those in the elite authority were jewish. Communism is a jewish scheme. MOst of the "revolutionaries" were New York jews who changed their names to Russian names. Same scheme they did in America as Charlie Sheen showed us a few months ago by revealing the real name of the crypto-zionist writer of "Two & 1/2 Men".
Also let's not forget that the Russian Revolution was funded and planned by western jews, who ended up destroying 1000's of beautiful 500-1000 yr old churches, and massacring 40+ million Christians in just 9 years. (1918-26)
By the time Stalin took over, that 40 million had more than doubled, counting the premeditated Ukrainian famines in 1922-23, and 1932-33. 10 million starved after the jewish NKVD came and stole thier food & farms. hey destroyed the middle class in just a few yrs.

Jack1952
- 10/18/2011 at 01:51

@ KK Jackson

I wouldn't be to eager too use Charlie Sheen as a source. His reputation precedes him and his problems with that show are legendary. In his state, he is quite likely to say anything.

What the Bolsheviks and Stalin did is common knowledge. That there were Jews involved does not automatically imply a comprehensive Jewish world domination conspiracy. Unless of course, one has a predilection to blame Jews for everything. Such a person would be hard to take seriously. One should not have an idea then force facts to agree with him.

Does the KK in your profile name have any significance?

urban deadite
- 07/13/2012 at 21:56

really thats odd because we do not know the names of a huge amount of Kommisars because of lost/destroyed etc documents, so how you 'know' they are all 'Jews' beggers belief.
All Stalins 'Kaptains' were not 'jews' either, lap up that nazi propaganda like a good doggy.
'Massacring 40+million Christians' - you obviously have an agenda that is not historical because you fail to mention all the others persecuted, athiests, intellectuls, buddists, jews, animists (shamanic), agnostics etc.
What about all the synagogues, buddist temples, sacred places for animistic believers that were destroyed????, 1000's of them, you can still see the ruins of them today and hear the older folk talk about the massacres.
The Soviet Union had 100's of different peoples and dozens of religions, ALL got persecuted from Eastern Europe to the Pacific coast NOT just 'Christians' over 1000's of miles of territory but you fail to mention most of this information.
Ask any older Mongolian about this or Khazak or Tajik or Finn or Inuit or Manchurian or Cossack the list of effected peoples and Cultures is endless.

If there is any doubt to the bleak history of Russia, read their own authors. From other things I've read, Chekhov give a true window into the lives of peasants during the times of the Tsars.

Petar Vitanovich
- 05/05/2011 at 11:22

F***ing Communists are so stupid. "Hey, I want FREEDOM! So lets put in power someone who's gonna take it all away!"... Constitutional Monarchy is the way to go, simply because a King is always held accountable for his debts and therefor wouldnt want to pass it on to his heir. And if he ever gets out of control, you kill him and apoint a new one. History has proven this method over and over, while democracy rapes you with a hidden beauracracy, and communism rapes your freedom of everything but their full support. I have family who lived in all three and they say when Serbia was a Kingdom, it was the freest they ever lived and the taxes the lowest they ever paid.

russia was a kingdom... and it failed... thats why there was a revolution. it wasn't the communists that were stupid, it was the fact that their leaders were just as greedy as capitalists. the russian population did a remarkable job of coming together and doing their best to create a free society, but in the end they could not overcome the greedy elite. there is nothing free about living under an authoritarian king. your statement is one of the most primitive, ignorant things i've ever read in my life.

Corey Sargent
- 06/03/2011 at 19:21

not to mention the people in power werent even real communists, they were fakes. they were beauracrats hiding behind the name "communist".

Castro didn't start out Communist. His government was boycotted by the USA for not letting the mafia back into Cuba. The only other trading partner open to him was the USSR and it's allies.

vvindred
- 04/05/2012 at 08:28

you are so right

mondo jackson
- 07/11/2011 at 04:14

How ironic that you are act so high and mighty. I imagine you're of adult age? So why haven' you noticed the communist 20 year blueprint for taking over a nation? We've been demoralized and deprogrammed. Not to mention 15 yrs of chemtrails, GMO's( that caused cancer in 100% of tested lab mice and rats, largest private banker rip off in world history in which the US gave them 100 cents on the dollar! And I could go on and on.

I think you should set aside an hour and find the Yuri Bezemov interview done by G. Edward Griffin in 1984. Almost 30 yrs ago. By the ignorant comment you made, that single 1 hour interview will make you realize Americans were even stupider than the Russians because we got reamed way worse with way more coming, and did i without even putting up a fight. Russians fought back jewish communism for 60 years before the 1917 Bolshevik Revolution.

BTW, the video is no longer up and posted on Youtube. BY the name of the so called "copyright holder" who flagged the video, I can tell you that all the videos that show true jewish history and examples of their lies and depravity are flagged by non-existent companies. "James Allan Khan" is one we've seen 1000's of times yet there is zero information about this so called production company. THe same goes for chronic flagger "Network DVD (Sound & Video Ltd). No such company yet this fake business got 2 of my Youtube accts shut down & YouTube ignored and still ignores my, and many others requests for YouTube to investigate these false dummy copyright holder claimnants. What does one have to do to have power to say they are a legit company that owns copyrights to music or video they had nothing to do with producing?